The first Chassidic aliyah ("ascent" - immigration to the Holy Land), led by Rabbi Menachem
Mendel of Vitebsk, Rabbi Abraham of Kalisk and Rabbi Yisroel of Polotzk, reached the Holy Land on Elul 5 of the year 5537 from creation (1777 CE). They were all disciples of the 2nd leader of the Chassidic movement, Rabbi DovBer, the "Maggid of Mezeritch"
(who had passed away five years earlier) and colleagues of
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi,
founder of Chabad. Initially, Rabbi Schneur Zalman was part of the group; but when the caravan reached the city of Moholiev on the Dnester River, Rabbi Menachem Mendel -- whom Rabbi Schneur Zalman regarded as his teacher and mentor after the Maggid's passing -- instructed him to remain behind to serve as the leader of the Chassidic community in White Russia and Lithuania. Rabbi Schneur Zalman retained close ties with the settlers in the Land of Israel and labored to raise funds for their support.

On the fifth of Elul, Ezekiel was sitting in his home in
Babylonia, with the elders of Judah seated before him. Suddenly, the hand of
G‑d fell upon him, and he experienced a vision in which he was transported to Jerusalem and shown all the
abominations taking place there. He was then informed about Jerusalem’s impending destruction,
which indeed took place less than five years later.

Ezekiel’s prophecy of that day ended on a positive note:

So said the L‑rd G‑d…although I
have scattered them among the lands, I will be a minor sanctuary for them in the
lands where they have come…I will gather you from the nations, and I will
assemble you from the lands where you have been scattered, and I shall give you
the Land of Israel…I shall place a new spirit within you, and I shall remove
the heart of stone from their flesh, and I shall give them a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 11:16–19)

As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is
traditionaly a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's
deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming
"Days of
Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1)
it is a most opportune time for teshuvah
("return" to G-d), prayer,
charity, and increased
Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew)
in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi
Schneur Zalman of Liadi
likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the
field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so
desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful
countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."

Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a
call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov
instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of
Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on
Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire
book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.

Most of the favors we do for others are things they do not need, things they only imagine they need, because they live in a world propelled by fantasies.

And most of the kindness we do is saturated with ulterior motives. We do kindness for those we love, those close to us, or those who make us feel good when they receive.

But this does not matter. They are acts of kindness, nonetheless, and G‑d desires to be found in acts of kindness. And where can kindness be performed? In a world of delusions, where people imagine all sorts of needs and each of us is dependent on the other.

The highest, indeed, is found in the lowest; the deepest truths are submerged in the muddiest pits of confusion.